Bookmark Love

As a new lover o'Valentine's Day, I decided to get creative for my students. I made these bookmarks for them using paint swatches from the hardware store, a flower hole punch and a short piece of ribbon. I wrote a little note on the back and handed them out today. They had them in a book by the end of class!

Valentine's Decor

I'm in the mood for love! Took down our "winter wreath" and replaced it with this Valentine's Day wreath. Who knew I would ever care about wreaths, let alone be making them. Made with 20 flowers from the Flower Shoppe cartridge, my Cricut and ol' faithful...the hot glue gun. She is underpaid and overworked. (Cannot get the picture to rotate....my apologies.) More love fun to come...

Valentine's Day Season!

 As a former V-day hater, I have caved on my husband's prodding for the first since I learned the definition of cynic, which was at about the age of 5. Four cards made using my Cricut for my nieces...pink, hearts...the whole nine yards. Jim and I may even celebrate love day this year. 

 

 Sealed up in a flowery envelope on its way to California with the cards are these four little love bugs made out of little girl's socks for my four favorite love bugs. Simple, silly and very cute. (I am making myself a little nauseous :-) Life is good.

Cupcake Wrapper Pom-Poms

We hosted game night last yesterday evening for the couple's from my team at school. The only place we have to hold 12 people is our unfinished basement.  We have it fixed up a bit, but it is still not that cozy. I an attempt to jazz things up I made these cupcake wrapper pom-poms and coordinated the decor around their colors to blend everything together and liven up the space. Mission complete!

Start with a styrofoam ball (the cheaper the better, these babies are actually quite expensive!). They will nearly double in size, so don't be afraid to use small balls. Push the cupcake wrapper onto your finger to dent the bottom, dab with a dot of hot glue and stick to the styrofoam ball.

This first picture is what the ball will start to look like. I followed the equatorish line around the ball, then proceeded to fill in. I liked the look of the wrappers when they were not very tightly squished together, but you can play around with that. I did run out of wrappers VERY quickly. The small balls used about 125 wrappers and the larger ones used about 200. I bought the colored wrappers at Joanne's and the black and white wrappers at Kroger. Good luck!

Party Time!

 A few of the treats I made for game night. Hummus with organic veggies and lentil crackers. Tostini with goat cheese and sun-dried toms, coconut macaroons and strawberries. Layered chip dip cups. Easy ideas for guest-pleasing dishes.

Egg'n Pepper

Ever had Egg'n Bread? Here is a new spin on the same delicious idea, minus the carbs and gluten. (Thank you Pinterest!)  Let the eggs cook a bit longer than you normally would. The moisture of the peppers lengthens the cooking time slightly.

 So, I haven't been to the gym in two days, but I have made my first wreath! Although my spring bulbs have been peaking out of the ground for weeks, it has still felt like winter to me. (Oh yeah...it is!) Thanks to my new, springy wreath, the Bisha's are ready. My husband is very thankful ;-) (Wreath making process starts at the end (or is it the beginning?) of the post.)


Finally, the flowers get little "medallions" glued to the middle of them, which were also cut out on the Cricut machine. I looped some ribbon around a pre-made wreath from a craft store and, you guessed it, used my hot glue gun to secure the flowers to the wreath.

 

After the strips are punched and folded, they get glued together. My glue of choice is my faithful hot glue gun. Hot glue is an almost instant and guaranteed hold. 

 

The "flowers" start out as pieces of paper, then get cut into strips on my Cricut machine. The strips get punched out and painstakingly folded. 

 Just for fun, I thought I would show you what a fresh, homemade container of Greek yogurt looks like. Add local honey and organic frozen raspberries and you have a breakfast so delicious it almost feels sinful!